They took to the streets to protest the way they'd been laid off: with little notice or severance pay.

“We made a lot of noise because there were 1,500 of us, and the majority of us were women,” Fuerza Unida founding member and executive director Petra Mata says in Spanish.Since then, the organization, which includes a sewing cooperative called El Hilo de la Justicia, has employed a handful of former Levi's workers as seamstresses. Fuerza Unida also hosts youth leadership summer camps every year.

The founding members' dreams will be taken to another level when they launch a new line of denim clothing called Fuerza Jeans with Justice during a fashion show and dinner at 6 p.m. on Sept. 29.

During the event, which will be called Trenzando Comunidades and held at Texas A&M-San Antonio, the organization will showcase the work of local designers, including lead seamstress Lety Garza.

In addition to local activists, the show's models will feature the daughters, granddaughters and nieces of Levi's workers in a nod to how far the organization has come.

“Cuando empezamos en Levi's, we didn't know we had a voice,” says Viola Casares, founding member and program director. Now, she says the organization continues to raise its voice for equity in the workplace, starting with their own.

“It's a family project,” Casares says, adding that they hope to employ even more people with the clothing line, which includes jeans, tops, dresses and guayaberas.

“We want to create jobs for our people on this side of our city,” Mata adds.

The cooperative plans to use money it raises from the fashion show to fund a new building at a still to-be-determined location on the South Side.

“The purpose is to raise funds for a bigger building. With God's help, we can raise half for a building,” Mata says.

mvilla@express-news.net

More Information

What: A fashion show and dinner showcasing the new denim line by Fuerza Unida's El Hilo de la Justicia sewing cooperative. Guest speakers include Maria Antonietta Berriozábal, Sandra Cisneros and Maria Hernandez Ferrier.

When: 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 29

Where: Texas A&M-San Antonio, One University Way

How much: $50 for one ticket, $85 for two. Various sponsorship opportunities available.